docker-moodle

A Docker image that installs and runs the latest Moodle stable, with external MySQL, Mariadb or Postgresql Database and automated installation with a default predefined administrator user. Also all the images are availalbe via docker hub.

Buidling

Buidling the required images using this repo is a liitle laborious and the whole process is described in the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Available Images

All available images are listed in: https://hub.docker.com/r/ellakcy/moodle/tags?page=1&ordering=-name

Each flavor is seperates by database support, version and either if is it based on apache, or alpine via fpm. To be more specific:

Image naming Pattern	PHP execution type	Mysql Support	Mariadb Support	Postgresql Support
mulitbase_apache_^VERSION^	apache	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_apache_^VERSION^	apache	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_apache_^VERSION^	apache	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_alpine_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_alpine_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_alpine_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_fpm_^VERSION^	fpm	NO	NO	YES

The ^VERSION^ is a 2-3 digit number the first digit follows the major version and the rest of them follow the minor version. For example the mulitbase_apache_39 runs the moodle 3.9 whilst mulitbase_apache_310 runs the moodle 3.10 .

Also for the latest moodle version we also ship the following images:

Image	PHP execution type	Mysql Support	Mariadb Support	Postgresql Support
latest	apache	YES	YES	YES
mulitbase_apache_latest	apache	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_apache_latest	apache	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_apache_latest	apache	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_alpine_fpm_latest	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_alpine_fpm_latest	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_alpine_fpm_latest	fpm (running on alpine linux)	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_fpm_latest	fpm	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_fpm_latest	fpm	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_fpm_latest	fpm	NO	NO	YES

Whilst for the most recent moodle lts we ship:

Image	PHP execution type	Mysql Support	Mariadb Support	Postgresql Support
mulitbase_apache_lts	apache	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_apache_lts	apache	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_apache_lts	apache	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_alpine_fpm_lts	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_alpine_fpm_lts	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_alpine_fpm_lts	fpm (running on alpine linux)	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_fpm_lts	fpm	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_fpm_lts	fpm	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_fpm_lts	fpm	NO	NO	YES

All images are shipped with php 8.0.

Specific PHP version

For greater stability and unexpected interruptions we reccomend to use the approach locking moodle and php version.

Default php is 8.0 whereas images with php 7.4 and 8.1 are shipped as well:

Image naming Pattern	PHP execution type	Mysql Support	Mariadb Support	Postgresql Support
mulitbase_apache_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	apache	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_apache_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	apache	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_apache_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	apache	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_alpine_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_alpine_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_alpine_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm (running on alpine linux)	NO	NO	YES
mulitbase_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm	YES	YES	YES
mysql_maria_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm	YES	YES	NO
postgresql_fpm_php^PHP_VERSION^_^MOODLE_VERSION^	fpm	NO	NO	YES

Replace the ^PHP_VERSION^ the follwoig bellow . The current php versions are:

• 8.1
• 8.0
• 7.4

Whereas the build moodle versions are:

• 311
• 400
• 401
• 402
• 403

Unsupported moodle versions

All moodle versions bellow 3.11 are not build and supported via out solution.

Supported Database Versions:

The database support is described into moodles documentation depending the moodle version. The installer will point you to appropriate version if you follow these steps:

STEP 1

Create a docker-compose.yml with a db version mentioned upon https://moodledev.io/docs/4.3/gettingstarted/requirements

STEP 2:

Run it locally and look at container's log (via docker log command). At invorrect version the installer (via entrypoint script) will point an error similar to:

== Environment ==
!! database mariadb (10.2.44-MariaDB-1:10.2.44+maria~bionic) !!
[System] version 10.6.7 is required and you are running 10.2.44 - 

In order to retrieve the logs follow these commands:

# create docker-compose
cd ./folder_where_docker-compose_is
docker-compose up -d
docker ps --filter ancestor=ellakcy/moodle
# Then copy the container id and run
docker logs -f ^container_id^

Also at docker ps command above we can also use a specific tag as well for example:

docker ps --filter ancestor=ellakcy/moodle:multibase_apache_403

Build Cycle and build versions

We aim to deliver freshly images on weekly basis. Each build image is tagged with the build date in a format _YmdHi, without build date is the latest build, for example the image mysql_maria_apache_latest is the latest built image whilst mysql_maria_apache_latest_202108112012 is the image built at 2021-08-11 20:12. At docker hub you can look at tags section for the latest or older builds.

Run

We also strongly recomend to create a docker-compose.yml and run using docker-compose in case that our solution mentioned above, does not fit your needs. The moodle-compose ( https://github.com/ellakcy/moodle-compose ) we developped is no longer supported

Running images manually

Apache based solutions

To spawn a new instance of Moodle:

• ... using MySQL:

  docker run -d --name DB -e MYSQL_DATABASE=moodle -e MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD=yes -e MYSQL_ONETIME_PASSWORD=yes -e MYSQL_USER=^a database user^ -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=^a database password^ mysql:5.7
  docker run -d -P --name moodle --link DB:DB -e MOODLE_DB_HOST=DB -e MOODLE_URL=http://0.0.0.0:8080 -p 8080:80 ellakcy/moodle:mysql_maria_apache_^VERSION^
  

  ** NOTICE ** For now due to the way that mysql authenticates its users, is working with vesrsion 5.7 version of mysql and earlier

• ... using MariaDB:

  docker run -d --name DB -e MYSQL_DATABASE=^a database name^ -e MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD=yes -e MYSQL_ONETIME_PASSWORD=yes -e MYSQL_USER=^a database user^ -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=^a database password^ mariadb:10.2
  docker run -d -P --name moodle --link DB:DB -e MOODLE_DB_HOST=DB -e MOODLE_URL=http://0.0.0.0:8080 -e MOODLE_DB_TYPE="mariadb" -p 8080:80 ellakcy/moodle:mysql_maria_apache_^VERSION^
  

  ** NOTICE ** Please use Mariadb 10.2 and earlier for the same reasons as mysql one.

• ... using PostgreSQL:

  docker run --name=DB -e POSTGRES_USER=^a database user^ -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=^a database password^ -e POSTGRES_DB=^a database name^ -d postgres
  docker run -d -P --name moodle --link DB:DB -e MOODLE_DB_HOST=DB -e MOODLE_URL=http://0.0.0.0:8080 -e MOODLE_DB_TYPE="pgsql" -p 8080:80 ellakcy/moodle:postgresql_apache_^VERSION^
  

Then you can visit the following URL in a browser to get started:

http://0.0.0.0:8080

NOTICE: In case you need to keep the data persisted use volumes both in database and moodle containers. NOTICE 2: ^VERSION indicates the moodle version. For the latest lts just use lts or for the latest non lts use latest Notice 3: In case your moodle installation is shipped via

Alpine with Fpm based solutions

For fpm solutions is recomended to use docker-compose. For production use is reccomended the to use the repo https://github.com/ellakcy/moodle-compose .

Enviromental variables

Also you can use the following extra enviromental variables (using -e option on docker run command):

Enviromental Variables for Default user settings:

A default user is generated during installation. Please provide different credentials during installation.

Variable Name	Default value	Description
MOODLE_URL	http://0.0.0.0	The URL the site will be served from
MOODLE_ADMIN	admin	The default administrator's username
MOODLE_ADMIN_PASSWORD	Admin~1234	The default administrator's password - *CHANGE IN PRODUCTION
MOODLE_ADMIN_EMAIL	[email protected]	The default dministrator's email

Enviromental Variables for Database settings:

Variable Name	Default value	Description
MOODLE_DB_HOST		The url that the database is accessible
MOODLE_DB_PASSWORD		The password for the database
MOODLE_DB_USER		The username of the database
MOODLE_DB_NAME		The database name
MOODLE_DB_PORT		The port that the database is accessible

Enviromental Variables for Email settings

Variable Name	Default value	Description
MOODLE_EMAIL_TYPE_QMAIL	false	Whether will use qmail as email (MTA)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_transfer_agent].
MOODLE_EMAIL_HOST		The host of the smtp server. If not provided then it won't send emails.

Enviromental Variables for reverse proxy

Variable Name	Default value	Description
MOODLE_REVERSE_LB	false	Whether the moodle rins behind a load balancer or not.
MOODLE_SSL	false	Whether the moodle runs behind an ssl-enabled load balancer.

Volumes

For now you can use the following volumes:

• /var/moodledata In order to get all the stored data.
• /var/www/html Containing the moodle source code. This is used by nginx as well.

Using SSL Reverse proxy

Via nginx

In case you want to use the nginx as reverse http proxy is recommended to provide the following settings:

server {
  listen  449 ssl;
  server_name  ^your_domain^;

  ssl_certificate     ^path_to_cert^;
  ssl_certificate_key ^path_to_key^;
  ssl_protocols       TLSv1 TLSv1.1 TLSv1.2;
  ssl_ciphers         HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

  location / {
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';

        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;

        # In case or running another port please replace the value bellow.
        proxy_pass http://^local_url_and_port^;
  }
}

Where:

• ^your_domain^: The domain that the moodle is available. Keep in mind that this value is the same in the MOODLE_URL enviromental variable.
• ^local_url_and_port^: Url that the reverse proxy will forward the requests.
• ^path_to_cert^,^path_to_key^: The certificate and its key.

As you can see the reverse proxy DOES NOT provide the http Host header according to this issue.

Also keep in mind to set the following docker enviromental variables MOODLE_REVERSE_LB and MOODLE_SSL into true as well.

Caveats

Moodle related

The following aren't handled, considered, or need work:

• moodle cronjob (should be called from cron container)
• log handling (stdout?)
• email (does it even send?)

Docker related

Also in case of an error that mentions:

UnixHTTPConnectionPool(host='localhost', port=None): Read timed out. (read timeout=60)

Export the following enviromental variables:

export DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT=120
export COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT=120

Credits

This is a fork of jmhardison/docker-moodle.